Mayors to junk senators who will pass cityhood law

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – City mayors nationwide will not back senators running in the 2010 elections if they vote to pass a bill seeking to convert into cities provincial capital towns that do not meet strict requirements of the Local Government Code.

San Fernando City Mayor Pablo Ortega bared this saying the decision of the League of Cities in the Philippines was reached after the LCP learned that Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. and other senators were pressured by some members of Congress to pass a bill that eventually granted cityhood to 16 towns that did not meet the law’s requirements.

“Our next plan, which we unanimously agreed on, is to withdraw our support from senators who will be running for re-election in 2010 or those who will vie for the presidential and vice-presidential race,” he said.

“We are not against the creation of new cities as long as they meet the requirements. We (existing cities) are the ones suffering with this undue creation of 16 towns into cities because our IRA has been deducted and our basic services have been affected.”

In Isabela, the cities of Santiago and Cauayan stand to lose at least P120 million in their annual IRA following the creation of 16 additional cities.

Santiago City, an independent component city which is also Cagayan Valley’s first city, will lose around P85 million in its IRA share.

This huge cut represents 14 percent of the city’s annual IRA of more than P600 million, according to city officials.

Cauayan City anticipated its IRA would be reduced by at least P40 million.

Cauayan Mayor Caesar Dy said the city government is receiving more than P200 million as IRA annually from the national government.

Janet Francia, secretary to the Santiago City Council, said the huge reduction of IRA would greatly affect the interest and welfare of city residents, especially in the delivery of basic social services.

“How about those devolved agencies like those engaged in health and education services, whose operations are being subsidized by the local government units (LGU) through their IRA?” he asked.

Hundred of city government scholars in the elementary and secondary schools would be among the major casualties of the IRA education, she added.

The Philippine flags in front of the Santiago ad Cauayan City halls were flown at half-mast last Monday (January 28) and city officials and employees wore black armbands to protest sudden reduction of their IRAs.

Francia said the annual IRA of the original 116 cities has been drastically reduced by at least 10 percent as the new cities are entitled to have an IRA annually.

“We used to have our IRA share increased each year,” she said. “But with the additional 16 cities, our URA has been greatly reduced.”

Francia said the P644-million budget allocated by the city government for this year has to suffer as a result of the IRA cut, and the delivery of basic social services would be greatly affected.

Among the cities facing the same predicament are San Fernando City, La Union, which sis set to lose P23 million; Ormoc City, around P4 billion; Puerto Princesa City, around P144 million; Zamboanga City, P115 million; Cotabato City, P30 million; and Kidapawan City, P37 million.

In Surigao City, Mayor Alfonso Casurra has backed the LCP’s campaign to resolve the issue of the IRA reduction of cities nationwide this year.

The IRA cut brought about by sprouting of cities nationwide has reduced Surigao City’s yearly IRA by P31 million, a huge amount for a city that needs funds for development, he added.

Neighboring Butuan City, the regional capital of Caraga Region, remained mum on the matter of the new cities.

The three cities in Caraga are Bayugan City in Agusan del Sur, Cabadbaran City in Agusan del Norte, and Tandag City in Surigao del Sur, the province’s second.

Earlier, official of the Department of Budget and Management said Cabadbaran City, a newly created and the only city in Agusan del Norte, will get increase of more than P150 million it its IRA this year.

Other cities whose creation have been questioned were Baybay, Leyte; Tayabas, Quezon; Borongan, Eastern Samar; Bogo and Carcar, Cebu; Catbalogan, Samar; Lamitan, Basilan; El Salvador, Misamis Oriental; Mati, Davao Oriental; Batac, Ilocos Norte; and Tabuk, Kalinga.

House bill 24 authored by Zamboanga Sibugay Rep. Ann Hofer aims to amend the Local Government Code to grant automatic cityhood to capitals of provinces without cities.

If the 27 capital towns become cities, they will be getting a share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of existing cities.

This year San Fernando lost P23 million in its IRA share because of the conversion of the 16 towns.

Under the law, town must have a minimum income of P100 million, a population of 150,000 and 100 square kilometers territory before it can be converted into a city